Our time in Madrid was very short. It was less than a 24 hour overnight before we flew back to the states. We had the whole afternoon so we knew we wanted to stay in a central part of the town to be able to explore one downtown neighborhood. We were in the perfect spot!
Hotel: Praktik Metropol
Montera, 47, Madrid City Centre, 28013 Madrid, Spain
(Phone: +34915212935)
This hotel is perfectly located and super swanky. The staff has a little bit of an attitude and the rooms were insanely small and very hot! It was perfect for what we were doing, but would not be desirable longer than one night.
We landed around 3pm so we were ready for a snack and a drink!
Our first stop was less than a block down from our hotel. It was a secret garden on a roof top! You wouldn’t expect to find this place here – on top of fashion store Salvador Bachiller in the middle of Madrid.
EL JARDÍN SECRETO DE SALVADOR BACHILLER
We tried to get a table on the roof top but they were full and they don’t let you hang around for one to open up. We ended up going one floor down and sat in a booth by the bar to enjoy our apps and fun drinks!
My drink came in a bath tub, while Aunt Jenny’s was served in a lightbulb! How insta perfect is that!
After our meal we still weren’t done eating! We continued our taste of Madrid tour (hosted by Arielle, just down the street)
It’s a great small stand up bar with insanely great (and cheap!) wine! They are known for their sizzling shrimp and garlic appetizer (gambas al ajillo) so of course we had to try. The atmosphere was so relaxing and calm. The waitstaff was so very friendly and funny and patient with us practicing our spanish. (We even ended up seeing our waiter after our time here at our next hot spot – he’s a local, so we knew we were in the right places)
Our next stop was by far more adventurous. Both Arielle and I will try anything once. We love to find the craziest thing on the menu and order it….just in case…we might LIKE it!
Casa Toni
Your neighborhood hole in the wall tapas bar. The place is tiny and we had to stand a while before being able to snag the perfect window table. The owner was wonderful and came to our table to greet us and pour us more wine several times.
We tried the Pig ears, mushrooms, intestine,
Although our time was short, we really ate and drank our way through every last bit of time we had left.
Transportation to/from airport
– Taxi: from the airport to the city center takes around 30 minutes. It costs 30€ (more or less)
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